Russia linn ordered 50,000 American rifloa by way of samples. If she liken them Blie may order a few hundred thousand. Shanghai Is being rnplilly changed into a manufacturing town. Cotton factories are springing tip in every di lution, and the Chinese hnvethe novel experience of smoke and screaming whistles. A nnniber of ministers and ciders of the Southern Presbyterian church have signed a call for a conference to be held in Toceon, On., April 11th, 1898, on the mbject of the second coming of Christ, which the cnll de clares to be the "pole star" of the church. The experiment of compulsory vot ing is to be tried in Pennsylvania, the last legislature having passed a Inw to that effect. This, in the opiniou of the American Agriculturist, "will bo watched with much interest. Much can be said in favor of this, for if men are compelled to vote they will take more interest in public affairs. Pennsylva nia is in advance on matters of this kind, as it compels the educntion of children prevents the employment of certain minors, fixes the rules of a day's work, provides for the payment of employes of the public and corpora tions at certain times, and compels the payment of taxes to support the tate and local governments." The whole trend of education has materially changed since the war, ob serves the New England Homesteail. Public sentiment now demands the best education for the masses. The failing is goneral that in endeavoring to supply this demand, we have gone to extremes in book learning, to the sacrifice of practical training in the manual or industrial arts. As President Fairchild of the Kansas Agricultural college truly says, there has been a wonderful evolution in the application of education to agricul ture, yet we are but fairly on the threshold of such direction and suc cessful investigations that shall make agriculture an art of the first rank. The total amount of capital invested in the electric lighting industry in the United States is estimated at some thing over $500,000,000. The num ber of public and private plauts ag gregate 10,000. The number of motors in use is estimated at about C00, 000, and their value at about $100,000,000. The electrical apparatus used in raining is estimated at $100, 000,000, and the value of the electric elevator industry will probably not fall short of $15,000,000. The most im portaut of all the electrio industries, however, is that of electric railways. In this field the investment is very great, and in the United States is rep resented by a capitalization of over $700,000,000. The number of trolley oars in nse is now over 25,000, and these run over 12,000 mile.i of track. The electrio railways represent more than 90 per cent, of all the street and suburban railroads of the .country. The aggregate of all the capital invested in electrio lighting, electrio railways and electrio power is about $1,500, 000,000, and this does not include the value of establishments that manufac ture the machinery and apparatus. 8ay E. V. S. Smalley in the Xew York Post: A real estate man who goes about this city a good deal tells me that there are today in Chicago 30,000 vacant flats and dwelling bouses, and that on West Madison street alone, a thoroughfare that runs far out to the city limits and is the chief busiuess artery of the west side, t 300 empty stores can be counted. When you go a little way out of the business centre by cable or electric cars yon notice tall buildings and small bnildings on either hand that are speckled with signs of "For -Sent." In fact, this big, growing city was about as badly overbuilt dur ing the period of excessive speculation as were any of the new and boastful towns of Kansas or of the Pacifio coast, and it will probably take four or five years of steady development to bring the population up to full oc cupancy of the existing facilities for housing it and furnishing it with busi ness offices and stores. The result of this real for building has been a heavy decline in rents. For flats and small stores the decline ranges from 30 to 60 per oent. Office rent in the new tall bnildings have gone down about 35 per eent. If any properties sow yield their old incomes they are such as are very favorably located in the immediate centre and whirl of the business movement. Chicago, like Xew York, has its best business dis trict pretty closely limited and cor ralled. Here the boundaries are set iy tie rirer oa two tides and the lake ca (--J. , Hitting Home on the liny. Od with your lists. hoys lift thorn high! VVn have hti'l a glorious ilny. Ami never such fun hencnth the sun. As riding home on the liny ! Never such fun In a winch nml four, With a ouni'hmnn ft I II and tail, A ml a fnntmnn stout, to hnml you out, And como at your beck mid call ! Softer thnn silken cushions are, Is our flit of triiKntnt liny, As from side to slilo we slip ami slide t'pon our frolicsome wny. Off with your lints, boys, slug for Joy, . And wnke the echoes nfnr. Let tho (flrls keep still, If 'tis their will, Hut we'll shout with a loud hurrnh 1 J. Zltclla Cocke iu Youth's Companion. Illgaml l.lttle PoMnge Slniupa. Our vonng stamp collectors will lie interested in hearing about some very large and some very smnll stamps. This country hns the honor of having issued the largest stamp ever made an old five-cent stamp, restricted to the mailing of packages of newspapers, and not intended for letter use. This stump was fonr inches long by two inches w ide about two-thirds as large as an ordinary liank note. The quarter-shilling stamp of Mock lcnburg-Hchwerin, which was issued iu 185(1, is the smallest ever issued less than one-fourth the size of the current pennv rjiglisu stamp and it would tuke about fifty of them to cover the surface of the largest issued by be United States. Chicago ltec ord, A Fnmlly of Orphan Tiffs. A mother pig died (paving a large family of pink and white little pigs. All the hands on the farm were busv. and there seemed no wav to do but to let the orphans die from starvation. The other pigs treated them with the greatest unconcern and apparently felt no pity for them. Hut a little girl enme running around the corner of the big red barn, and when she saw the little pigs and heard of their sad plight she said quite promptly: "I'll adopt 'em," and her father very willingly gave them to her. They were all scfuenling piteously for their dinner, and at first their lit tle mistress did not know what to do with them or how to feed them, for they were much too young to drink out of a trough. But she soon had a bright idea. She ran to the house and beseeched her mothenjfor an old tin teapot which had long stood on the pautry shelf. Then she found a rubber mouthpiece exactly like those nsed on a baby's bottle. This she securely fitted on the spout of the teapot, which was then filled with milk. By this time the little piggies were in a pliable state of hunger. The little girl ran out ami took the piggies one by one from the soft straw o their box, and they laid hold of the teapot spout with little grunts of satisfaction, and when they had finished their dinner they all curled up together and went off to sleep. The little girl always fed the runts the small, weak pigs of the litter before the others.and they soon grew large and strong. In a few weeks the whole family of orphans would set up a great squealing every time their mistress appeared, some times following her across the yard like so many kittens. Few people know how clean and soft and cunning very little pigs are, and the little girl greatly enjoyed her family. When they were a little older she taught them to eat out of the trough, and now she has the finest litter of pigs anywhere in the township. Chicago Record. The Young Chamois. We Lad a full half hour to wait be fore the drive began, and were re warded by one of the prettiest and uiosinteresting sights and leBsons in natural history I have ever seen namely, the sight of an old chamois giving its young kid a lesson in jump ing. I must premise by mentioning that it is very dilllcult in fact, iuir possible for any one but a very old hand to distinguish a buck ohamois from a doe as they are moving, and the rnle is not to shoot at a chamois if it has a kid with it, as that is a pretty sure sign it is a doe. A few minutes after we bad been sittjug quietly at our posts, and be fore the drive began, the keeper called my attention to a chamois head and neck, which had suddenly appeared on the sky line about 150 yards off. It turned out to be a doe with a kid. They came along slowly, npt at all thinking of danger, and not in any way as yet disturbed by the drivers, who were a mile or two away, and who bad not yet begun to drive. They both came quietly down the pteep mountainside until they came to a place where there was a drop of about twelve fuet, and then took place the following beautiful sight, which was also witnessed by S. and his Jager from where they sat. The old cham ois jumped down,, as a matter of course, but the. kid "funked," and would not follow. The old one looked np at it, and then went back another way to the ledge on which the kid was standing, and again jumped down, so as to show the young one how to do it, and looking up to it as much as ' to say, "Come along, you little stupid: it won't hurt you!" But the kid funked a tin in, and would not follow. The mother thereupon returned a sec ond time to the ledge, and proceeded to pnsh the kid with her hend,and made it jump down, and followed it herself. Then came the climax the old one and the young one both went round nguin to the same ledge, and the old one jumped down first, and this time the kid followed immediately, hnvinq been taught that it was safe ard easy enough. Badminton Magazine. A Cnrlnu Insert. It is in August that the eiatnrnlists observe the marvelous insect which is born, reproduced and dies in the period of n single night on the hntikt of the Warn, of the Seine and of the llhine; it in the ephemera of which Hirammerdam has written, nud which is spoken of in Aristotle. The life of this insect does not last beyond four or five hours. It dies toward 11 o'clock in the evening after takingthe form of a butterfly about six hours after midday. It is true, however, that before taking this form it hns lived three years iu that of a worm, which keeps always near the border of wator in the holes which it makes in the mud. The chnnge of this worm in tho water to an cphemcre which Hies is so sudden that one ban not tho time to see it. If ouo tnkes the worm in the water the hand cannot be tnken away before the change is made, unless by pressing the worm slightly in the region of the chest j by this means it can be taken from the wnter before the change takes place. The epheinere, after leaving the wnter, seeks n place where it can di vest itself of a fine memlirnne or veil, which ent irely covers it. This second change takes place in the air. Ij'he epheinere arrests itself with the point of its little nails as firmly as it can; it makes a move similar to that of a shiver, then the skin on the mid dle of the back breaks apart.the wings slip ont of their sheath, as we some times take off our gloves by turning them inside out. After this stripping the epheinere begins to fly. Some times it holds itself straight np cm the surface of water on the end of its tail, flapping its wings one against the other. It tnkes no nourishment in the live or six hours which are the limit of its life. It seems to have been formed to multiply, for it does not leuve.its state of a worm until it is ready to deposit its eggs, and it dies as soon as they are deposited. In three (lavs' time one sees appear and die all species of ephemeren. They Inst sometimes until the fifth day, fur the reason that some malady has affected some of them and prevent them from changing at the same time as the others. Atlanta Constitution. Irlvlng a ling Team. Well, here we are down on the ice, and the dogs impatient to start. Let me describe. The sled consists of a narrow box four feet long, the front half being covered or boxed in, mounted on a floor eight feot long resting on runners. Iu this box the passenger sits, wrapped in rabbit skins so that he can hardly move, his head and shoulders onlt projecting. Iu front and behind and on top of the Ikix is placed all the luggage, covered with canvas, and securely lashed, to withstand all the jolting and possiblo upsets, and our snowshoes within easy reach. An important item is the dogwhip, terrible to the dog if used by a skillful hand and terrible to the user if he be a novice; for he is sure to half-strangle himself or to hurt his own face with the business end of the lash. The whip I measured had a handle nine iucheB long and lash thirty feet, and weighed fonr pounds. The lash was of folded and plaited seal-hide, and for five feet from the handle measured five inches round, then for fourteen feet it grad ually tapered off, ending in a single thong half an inch thick and eleven feet long. Wonderful the dexterity with which a driver can pick out a dog, and almost a spot on a dog with his lnslu The lash must be trailing at full length behind, when a jerk and .turn of the wrist causes it to fly forward, the thick part first, and the tt.pering end continuing the motion till it is at full length iu front, and the lash making the fur fly from the vic tim. But often it is mnde to crack over the heads of the dogs as a warn ing. The eleven dogs were harnessed to the front of the sled, each by a separate thong of seal hide, all of dif ferent lengths, fastened to a light can vas harness. - The nearest dog was about fifteen feet from the sled, and the leader, with bells on her, about fifty feet, the thongs thus increasing in length by about three feet. ' When the thong is good the dogs spread out like the fingers of a hand, but when the snow is deep they fall into efkoh other's tracks in almost single file. As they continually cross and reoroBS each other, the thongs get gradually plaited almost up to the rearmost dog, when a halt is called, the dogs are made to lie down, and the driver care fully disentangles them, taking care that no dog gets away meanwhile. They are guided by the voice, using "Husky," that is, Eskimo works: "Owk," go to the right; Arrah ," to the left, and "Hoit," straight on. But often one of the men must ruu ahead on snowshoes for the dogs ( to follow him. London (Canada) Times. Haj'l'y Innoranc. Th A WifVlmt sweat .mil. (I,... In nn thA hahv'n f&Aa Jnhn The Husband Yes, he's probably dreaming that he's keeping me awake. PEARLS OF THOUGHT. Reckless youth makes rueful c, Mooro. Cultivation to tho mind in nn necefc B.iry as food to tho body. Cicero. A life spent worthily should be nieasnrod by deeds, not yenrs. Sheri dan. Common senso in nn uncommon de gree is what the world calls w isdom. Coleridge. O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practico to deceive. Walter Scott. The carnestnoss of life is the only passport to the satisfaction of life. Theodore Parker. I hate to see things done bv halves. If it be right, do it boldly if it bo wrong, leave it undone. Gilpin. To persist in doing wrong extenn ntes not the wrong, but makes it much more heavy. Shakespeare. There is nothing more universally commended than a line day; the rea son is people can commend it without envy. Shenstone. Inquisitive people are tho funnels of conversation; they do not take any thing for their own use, but merely to pass it on to others. Steele. To take for granted ns truth all that in nllegcd against the fame of others, is a species of credulity that men would blush at on nny other subject. Jane Porter. Set it down ns n fact to which there are no exceptions, that we must labor for atl that we have, and that nothing is worth possessing, or offering to others, which costs us nothing. John Todd. Intoxicating drinks have produced evils more deadly, because more con tinuous, thnn all those caused to man kind by the grent historic scourges of war, famine and pestilence combined. (Hailstone. Let no man be sorry that he has done good, because others have done evil. If n man hns acted right, he has done well, though alone; if wrong the sanction of all mankind will not justify him. Fielding. The greatest and noblest work in the world and an effect of the grentest prudence and cure, is to rear and build up a man and to form and fashion him to piety, justice, tempernnce and all kinds of honest lyul worthy actious. Tillotson. A Kansas Tiitrn. Chiefly by its newness and of a cer tain cosmopolitan aspect, snys William Allen White iu tho Atlantic, tho Kan sas town differs fr.im villages else where in the United States, and pre sents a few interesting variations from the common type. The largest town in tho commonwealth has hardly forty thousand inhabitants. Most of the county-seats in tho eastern half of the state, w here the rainfall is copious, nud where crops are bountiful and regular, contain nbont three thousand persons each. The county-seat is in the strictest sense a country town. The inhabitants live almost entirely upon the ti Unitary country. There are no factories. The money that the farmers of the county spend for food, clothing, fuel, and the comforts of the farm home is the cash capital upon which the town does its business. This cnpital is passed from the grocers to tho clothing merchants, to the furniture dealers, to the hardware sellers, and to professional men. In the older communities of tho Knslern and Middle states, necessity has de veloped factories, which convert raw material into finished products, aud money from the outside world comes iu. But Kansas in yet hnrdly a gen eration old, and it bus not entered the manufacturing era of industry. An Inilhin rnictlenl .Ink. It is a pretty general belief that tho Indian is destitute of a sense of humor. An ex-army officer, however, recently had a little experience which would indicate that the noble red man can play a practical joke and appreci ate it too. We find the story iu the Detroit Free Press. "I remember one time meeting (or rnther discovering a few rods distant) a big Indian, when I was out walking alone about two miles from camp. "Well, he discovered me about the same time, and the minute ho did so he let out a terrific war-whoop, began flourishing his tomahawk, and started for me on a run. He chased me until I keeled over from 'exhaustion, and then, instead of scalping me as I naturally expected ho would from his previous actions, he assisted me to iny feet, with a broad grin on his faco, and grunted. " 'Cghl Injun only yell for fun, Too bad scare white man. ' Injun don't want scalp. Wont chew terbackerl' "The whole proceeding it seemed was only his humorous method of striking, a stranger for a chew of tobacco. If I had had something to strike back with it might not have been quite funny for him, but, un fortunately, I had left my weapons in enmp." ' Hones of Ueml Soldiers Sprouting. Old Nature is startling the humans again. Near the battlefield of Mal vern Hill, in West Virginia, tho bones of as many as six hundred skeletons are sticking up in the earth, all of a sudden, like sprouting plauts. Evi dently some subterraneau force is bringing them up from tho shallow earth iu which they were buried. A bag full of the bonus has been secured for exhibition as war relics. Path finder. ' What Mary Said, i During a call that little 4-year-old Mary was making with her mother a slice of cake was given her. 'VNow, w list are you going to say to the lady?" asked the mother. "Is you dot any more?" said little Mary, demurely. Women In 1'olltlrs. Mrs.NohlePrentishns recently been appointed one of the executive com mittee of the Pingreo commission in Kausas City, Mo. Mrs. Clarinda M. Cope, Mrs. Winnie M. Crissey, Mrs. Snrah Crowley and F. H. Greene, all of Chicngo,hnveheen appointed deputy factory inspectors for Illinois by Gov ernor Tanner. Hhe Inn Nlghtwnteh. Woman hns been invading nearly every branch of employment once sup posed to be tho exclusive property of tho stronger sex, and one of the latest ventures in this respect is that of Mrs. George Hnber of New Brunswick, N. J. She hns a position as nightwatch in the business district of that city, and has been as successful iu the work since she took hold of it as any man might hope to be. She has a partner in her duties in the shape of an im mense Great Dane hound, who ac companies her constantly during her hours of duty, and who would make things warm for anyone if his mistress gave the word. The Flight or Time. Tho flight of time was made appar ent to many during the Queen's jubi lee procession by the nltered appear ance of some of the royal and imperial ladies who figured in the cortege. Em press Frederick of Germany, the eld est dnughter of the Queen.'now her self the grandmother of a girl of mar riageable age, Princess Feodore of Saxe-Meiningen, has snow white hair. So, too, has Princess Mary of Cam bridge, Duchess of Teck, mother of the Duchess of York, nud Princess Frederica of Hanover, and of Great Britain, who fifteen years ago was re nowned throughout Europe for her superb beauty and her golden hair. She has the reputation of having re ceived and declined more offers of marriage than any princess of the blood, finally conferring her hand npou her father's devoted aud faithful aid-de-camp, Baron Pnwel-Iiamingen. How to I'nek lints. In order to secure their safety in trav eling.hats must be packod with a great deal of core. If your trunk is lined with canvas, as most trunks are nowa days, the lints may be nicely secured with tnpes and pins. The pieces of tape should be pinned to four sides of the hat in places where the pin holes will not show, aud then stretch to the sides of the trunk, where they are pinned to the canvas. If there is no canvas lining, the tnpes will have to be socurod to the trunk with tacks, and a better substitute for the tapes would be a coarse white thread sewed through the hat and then wound around the tack heads. To remove the lint cut the threads and pull them out, nfter lifting it from the tray. One caU pack several hats in a large' band box to send by express by sewing them to the sides of the box. The thread is sewed through the box and knotted on the outside. A little soft tissue paper should be used to sup port the trimmings and to fill the crown, . Ilnlnty Lingerie. Ribbons play an important part in dainty undergarments, and are run through or under insertions aud tied in bows wherever possible. Fronts of Empire gownn are sometimes tucked down for three or four inches from the throat in very fine tucks, whence the fullness is unconfined, and below the tucks are crosswise bands of in sertion put on straight or iu Van dykes. The shoulder collars are usually pointed into rever's in front, and run down both sides of the front, well over the bust and even to the waist line. The backs of the Empire gowns are laid in box plaits the depth of the yoke, and sometimes tucked to the waist. The embroideries used are of fine lace like patterns, aud they are put on as gathered rulHes or frills, not in straight edgings. . The very daintiest corset covers are marvels of fine needlework, often be ing made entirely of rows of insertion between bands of linen cambric, nain sook or silk. Fine embroidered bead ing heads most ruffles, whether of lace or embroidery, and is used iu al most all joinings, between bands of tucks and insertion, aud on all edges; often all the seams of silk undergar ments, room gowns and matinees aro put together with it. Demorest's Magazine. I.lnen Traveling Frocks. Two rather demure gowns were seen recently, one being liuen, iu plain and spotted, and the other a traveling gown of tailor out, with gay revers and vest of bright tartan plaid, says the Philadelphia Times. The liuen gown was iu navy blue and white, the plaid being clear blue and the dotted the same, with white spots the size of peas. Tho skirt had the upper part of spotted linen, while the bottom was of pluiu navy blue, the spotted lying over it in large scallops bound with white. The bodice was all of plain savy blue, excepting the sort of bertha, which was scalloped like the skirt and bound with white. The deep belt or corselet was of navy blue bound with white. A largo scarf of white silk innll is worn about the throat and is tied in a huge bow under the chin. The hat was of suubonnet straw in a glossy rough braid, and in worn well off the fnce, with a clmplet of deep red and pink roses bordering the hair. Tho crown in trimmed with masses of whito taffeta silk not .ribbon, bnt silk, and tho bows set up very high over the brim in front. The tailor gown was of smooth, lightweight cloth in a clean tan color. It is lined throughout with plaid taffeta silk, and the lapels and waistcoat are of tho samo silk. The bottom of tho coat bodice was made in scallops,and it sets out jaunt ily at the back. The sleeves are ex actly like the old time coat sleeves that we wore before large sleeves came into vogue, and they flare over the hands, showing the plaid facing. Above the plaid waistcont was a snowy linen dickie and front, with a little rim of collar standing out about the chin. The hat is of fine orange straw trimmed with two flaring white wings and rosettes of cerise ribbon, a band of the same ribbon surrounding the brim. Tim Typical Amerirnn fllrl. As a type the American girl smiles at ns from the canvas of a great artist, and there is a dash of coquetry in her sweet eyes and a suggestion of mysti cism in her grave,parted lips. In song and verso she is celebrated, and she is tho very breath of life to the modern novel, to the writer and illustrator alike. Bnt in real life who among ns has seen her? Where is she to be found? Not in the West. She is charming there, breezy, spirited, ori ginal, slangy, independent and de lightfully unconventional; but pro vincial rather than national. Yon may look in vain for her among the fragile, Dresden china bas-blens of New England, whose opinions and ac cent are equally chilling, and whose dainty eye glasses are never, by any chnnce, coulenr do rose. South of the Mason and Dixon line there exist sweet voiced, sweet lipped women, al ways gracious, graceful and gentle, but, nlas ! never typical. Surely it will not be necessary to pursue the ignis fatuus beyond New York, for New York expects to be patted every time the American type is mentioned; but, strange to say, it is by a careful study of the youth nnd beauty of this cosmopolitan city that the truth is brought to light that there is no typi cal American girl. We have, indeed, been lured to wor ship at n false shrine. There is the Gibson girl, who is rather the Southern type with an added hauteur nnd di rectness of style; the Smedley girl, who is a combination of New York and San Francisco; the Howells girl, who' has the manners of Boston with the soul of Chicago; and the Henry James girl, whose manners and soul are de void of any local color whatever; but even a composite girl of these fonr typos would scarcely be sufficiently representative. It would be quite as sensible to insist that the daisy should grow liko a rose, blossom like an or chid and carry the perfume of a violet, as to attempt to condense American girlhood, with its varying qualities of earnestness, vivacity, mirth, dignity, gentleness, independence and mental alertness, into one typical American girl. Demorest's Magazine. Fashion Notes. Sailor collars of white linen are much worn on blouse bodices. i All smart white dresses are trimmed with insertion of yellow embroidery or lace. Plaid blouses are dividing the honors) with clear scarlet and checks of black and white. Elaborateness is being displayed in the make up of sleeves. Many of them are composed almost entirely of lace and insertion; others are tucked round and round and others are cov ered with rows of trimming. One of the handsomest waists of the season is made of white China crepe. It has vest, collar aud cutis of white satin ribbon. It is worn with a skirt of black satin made plainly, save for three bias ruffles at the hem. Short boleros and Etons made of cut work and embroidery, lined with, thin tinted silk of some becoming;' color, are considered very smart with any sort of light summer gown. They give a pretty ttulsh that is both chiu and dainty. Dresses of muslin, organdie and batiste have the rallies edged with, narrow lace. There may be but ouo. or several ruffles on the skirts aud they are set either iu clusters at the foot, or at regular intervals, coveriug about half the length of the skirt. A handsome imported jacket is made of bos cloth, showing a white sailor collar and revers. The model is open fronted and extremelv short. 'PI, a. jacket is a pale shade of cream, and i uaiieu me jieuiorn beacn jacket, and other models are in pale green, mauve, tan sage gray, silver gray, and also deep currant red.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers